Chris Perkins AMA – Ravenloft, D&D Movie & More

Chris Perkins was on Reddit for the first time for an AMA. He also provided a preview link to a new background – Haunted One that comes with Curse of Strahd. Perkins also answered a ton of questions about anything and everything D&D. It was a really great AMA and you should check it out, but if you don’t have time, I have provided a summary with th juiciest details he provided.

D&D Movie

Noodle-Works: How much input will the DnD team at WotC have on the future DnD movie?
Think of us as advisors and subject-matter experts.

King_cheetah: Will you have any creative input into the D&D film? (I hope so).
Yes

Magic the Gathering

MEANMEANPORK: Are there any plans to link Magic: The Gathering with D&D at all (for example, supplements for some of Magic’s settings) ?I’m not opposed to the idea, and I think there’s a chance it could happen.

Acquisitions Inc & Live Play

The Acq Inc. crew will be back at PAX East this year. I can’t speak about the details of what we’re doing on stage this year, except to say that it will be surprising.
I will be attending PAX East in Boston this spring (and yes, so will the rest of the Acquisitions Incorporated crew).

Frognosticator: Acq Inc games at PAX South?
We’re looking to shake things up a bit with a few surprises, so anything’s possible.

Look_Out_For_The_Cow: Is there a favorite character that you’ve played/are playing that you really love? What kinds of characters do you enjoy playing? Are there any character concepts you’ve wanted to play, but have never gotten the opportunity?
Wizards and rangers. Once in a while, I like to play something straightforward, like a barbarian. I predict that before the end of the year, you’ll see me playing a character instead of DMing.

Curse of Strahd

We try to use iconic D&D elements in our stories… For Curse of Strahd, we really just wanted to reintroduce a classic villain and show the depth of his evil.

it contains some content appropriate for characters (including magic items), there are no new spells, feats, or subclasses.

The maps of Castle Ravenloft are rendered isometrically, just like the original Ravenloft castle maps. All other locations are top-down.

Curse of Strahd represents an acknowledge of D&D’s greater multiverse. We will continue to tell stories in FR, but CoS is a shot off the bow of everyone who professed that Wizards would never go back to its other classic settings. We foreshadowed the coming of CoS in the core rulebooks. The core rulebooks contain lots of clues about the stories we intend to tell going forward.

There are new rules in Curse of Strahd, specific to adventuring in the land of Barovia. For example, there’s a rule for “resurrection madness.” No “power checks” specifically, but CoS has something comparable in one of its chapters.

Filthybiped: Is there an updated map of the whole Barovia domain (including other towns like Vallaki and Teufeldorf)?
Yes. Vallaki is there. Teufeldorf is not.

Curse of Strahd was created entirely in-house. We did not partner with an outside studio. We did, however, work with Tracy and Laura Hickman.

Other Interesting Stuff

On High Level Campaigns: DMs tend to customize their campaigns more an more as their characters gain levels. It’s hard to create high-level adventures that will serve tens of thousands of DMs. Also, our research shows that a relatively low percentage of campaigns make it to levels 16+. However, that doesn’t rule out high-level content in the future.

Wizards and rangers. Once in a while, I like to play something straightforward, like a barbarian. I predict that before the end of the year, you’ll see me playing a character instead of DMing.

his alignment is lawful good.

Futhington: In Out of the Abyss, what drove the decision to not include any section directly dealing with Orcus? Simple time and space or was there a reason he isn’t featured in the main storyline until right at the very end?
We were counting on a novel to deal with the Orcus subplot. The novel fell through for reasons beyond our control. Sh*t happens! 🙂

Shawn is an author and co-founder of Tribality.com. He first got into tabletop RPGs through ninjas and then by playing a Kender in Dragonlance. Years later, he can be found running games in the Nentir Vale and his own Seas of Vodari campaign setting.